Friday, October 16, 2015

Join National PTA Tues., Oct. 20 for a webinar for parents on assessments and score reports. During the session, we'll discuss tips, resources and hear from special guests:

Lucille Davy, senior advisor for the Hunt Institute, will review the key changes in standards, assessments and score reports.

Bill Jackson, CEO and founder of Great Schools, will review the new parent assessment guide offered on GreatKids.org that help parents understand what the assessment scores mean.

David Park, EVP of strategy & communications for Be A Learning Hero, will review the new parent resources offered on BeALearningHero.org that help parents understand their child's strengths and weaknesses.

We'll also raffle five $100 Amazon gift cards to the child's school of randomly selected attendees. Winners will be notified by Fri., Oct. 23 via email. Space is limited, so register today to reserve your spot!

Friday, October 9, 2015

The State Board of Education will hold a board meeting November
4-5 in Vancouver. Public comment is scheduled during the board meeting,
but the Board recognizes that those times may not be convenient for working
community leaders, so we're holding an additional open forum to gather feedback
from members of the community.

Please join board members for an open discussion about important
topics such as strategies for closing the achievement gap, standards, and
assessment. The community forum will be November 3 at ESD 112.

If you are unable to attend the public comment or community meeting,
we are happy to respond to any written questions you may have about the board
and its work. Currently, the Board is working on important issues impacting the
achievement index, school accountability, graduation requirements, and student
discipline.

Board members appreciate the
opportunity the community forum provides for close conversations with members
of the community and educators. We hope you'll be able to attend. Register here.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Applications now are available to recognize the WSPTA's Outstanding Advocate to be awarded at the WSPTA Legislative Assembly October 24, 2015 in Olympia, Washington. The WSPTA Outstanding Advocate award recognizes and honors an individual for continued and dedicated service to ALL children, and a demonstrated commitment to helping create strong policies relating to the health, welfare, safety, and education of children and youth.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Does PTA have a position on work stoppages and strikes? Are there
guidelines for local PTAs? Yes and Yes!
WSPTA position: Washington State PTA will not support work stoppages and/or strikes
which interrupt or disrupt the educational day. National PTA also has a position statement on “Teacher Negotiations, Sanctions
and Strikes” which provides guidance for local PTAs.

Please read below for additional information and texts of both position
statements.

Our regions, councils and local PTAs in many areas of the state
are being impacted this week and possibly in the coming weeks by work
stoppages, and/or strikes in many of our school districts. This can be a
difficult and stressful time for all. Remain PTA mission focused to support
what is best for all kids by providing resources from your
community on activities and social services for children and families.
Strive to create the safest path with the lowest impact on children.

In order to ensure that guidance is provided to local PTAs and
councils, the following applies: WSPTA has a resolution regarding Uninterrupted
Operation of Public Schools and the National PTA position statement on Teacher
Negotiations, Sanctions and Strikes. Both are listed below and may assist our
regions, councils and local PTAs with information on how to respond to strikes.

Whereas, the Washington State PTA has a purpose “To develop
between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for
all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social,
spiritual education”, and

Whereas, Quality Education is a high priority issue for the
Washington State PTA, and

Whereas, Washington State citizens have historically valued the
reliable delivery of vital services and the orderly management of public
institutions including fire and police services and public schools, and
Whereas, the Washington State PTA also holds that a disruption to the
educational system in the form of work stoppages and strikes is detrimental to
the best interests of the children and families affected by those actions, and

Whereas, the Washington State PTA believes that a disruption to
the educational system in the form of work stoppages and/or strikes is often
detrimental to the best interest of the children and families affected by those
actions. While acknowledging that more state resources must be committed to the
educational process in the State of Washington, including higher salaries for
educational employees. Therefore, be it

Resolved, that the Washington State PTA shall work to produce
conditions with regard to the collective bargaining process which will
consistently produce, in a timely manner, labor agreements negotiated and fully
embraced by the direct parties thereto and which will not cause disruption to
the school calendar; and be it further

Resolved, that the Washington State PTA will not support work
stoppages and/or strikes which interrupt or disrupt the educational day.

That said, here are some guidelines from National PTA and WSPTA:

These are suggested measures for
action organized appropriately during the strike, and after the strike. These
guidelines, plus counsel from the state PTA and the basic good judgment of the
people, should enable the council and the local PTAs to minimize the dilemmas
and to contribute constructively to community understanding, teacher
satisfactions, renewal of cordial parent-teacher dialogue, and improved
educational climate for children.

From National PTA’s position statement on “Teacher Negotiations,
Sanctions and Strikes”:

During the Strike

Urge
immediate and continuous negotiations and if necessary mediation to get
schools open as soon as possible. If negotiation is delayed, the PTA
should seek to bring the school board representatives and teachers'
organization representatives together.

PTA
should not man the classrooms, except possibly for a day in the absence of
advance notice of a strike. Not only is manning of classrooms inconsistent
with PTA efforts to obtain a qualified teacher in every classroom, but
personal liability may be incurred. If the school administration intends
to keep the schools open during a teacher walkout, it should develop a
corps of volunteers outside the PTA structure.

Suggest
and urge appropriate action by parents, community agencies, and volunteer
groups that will protect children during the period the school is closed.

Encourage
the full and continuous participation of teacher members in PTA
activities.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Tacoma, WA (August 13, 2015): Washington state’s highest court issued an order sanctioning the state for failing to develop a plan to fully fund K-12 education per the court’s 2012 McCleary decision. The governor and lawmakers will meet Monday to begin addressing the court’s recent decision.

“Fully Funding McCleary is the WSPTA’s number one legislative priority and we are extremely pleased with the Supreme Court decision to ensure that fully funding education and holding the legislature responsible to comply with the constitution, is in the best interest of Washington’s children and will provide them with the best education possible.”

About Washington State PTA: The Washington State PTA was founded in 1905 by Abby Williams Hill of Tacoma, an artist who saw the need for an organization to support Washington's children. Thanks to her leadership and vision—and over 132,000 current members who have carried her vision forward—Washington State PTA has been a leading voice for children in Washington for more than 110 years. To learn more about the Washington State PTA, please visit www.wastatepta.org.

Friday, July 24, 2015

ALEXANDRIA, Va., (July 24, 2015) — Yesterday,
the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would reauthorize the
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The bill’s passage by
the committee is an important first step to improve and strengthen the juvenile
justice system in the United States. The JJDPA, which was signed into law in
1974 and last reauthorized in 2002, prevents children and youth from entering
the juvenile justice system and protects those currently in the system.

“While the impact of the JJDPA over
the last 40 years has been remarkable, reauthorization of the law is long
overdue and improvements need to be made to the nation’s juvenile justice
system. Loopholes in the JJDPA and amendments made to the law over the years
have weakened its protections and resulted in thousands of children and youth
being detained for minor offenses,” said Laura Bay, president of National PTA. “National PTA applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee and
the leadership of Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for passing
the bipartisan Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015. We commend their commitment to improving the
juvenile justice system for our nation’s youth.”

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015
would improve current law by:

Ensuring the continuity of children’s education
while detained and a smooth transition back into the classroom after;

Providing guidance to states to
reduce racial and ethnic disparities among youth in the juvenile justice
system;

Making sure detained youth are
kept separate from adults; and

Phasing out exemptions that allow
youth detainment for minor offenses.

“National PTA has advocated for a
fair, safe and rehabilitative justice system for children for more than one
hundred years. The association continues to encourage and support policies and
programs that work to prevent juvenile delinquency and provide youth in the
system with services to help them become productive members of society,” added
Nathan R. Monell, CAE, National PTA executive director. “We remain committed to
working with Congress to ensure a JJDPA reauthorization bill is signed into law
that enhances protections for youth and helps every child reach his or her full
potential.”

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Ready Washington (ReadyWA) invite you to join a telephone town hall meeting about Washington’s K-12 learning standards and assessments. This is your opportunity to learn more and ask any questions you may have about learning standards and assessments in our state.

OSPI and ReadyWA will host a telephone town hall for the communities below on the following dates:

To participate and live-stream a telephone town hall on your computer or mobile device on the dates above, please visit the Tele-Town Hall on K-12 Education website.

To help ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards were established. Washington’s K-12 learning standards are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and provide clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English Language Arts from kindergarten through 12th grade. The Smarter Balanced assessment system, which is aligned to the new standards, provides a way for teachers to measure student progress on those standards throughout the year and make adjustments and interventions as necessary to ensure students are on the pathway to success. The assessments are administered in grades 3-8 and 11.

Friday, July 17, 2015

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (ECAA) was passed by the Senate on a vote of 81-17. National PTA applauds the leadership of Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) for crafting the historic and bipartisan legislation. We believe that this bill is a solid foundation for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB). The Senate bill will soon go to a Conference Committee with the House to work out the differences between its reauthorization bill, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5).

Throughout the consideration of the reauthorization of ESEA-NCLB, National PTA and PTA members across the nation strongly advocated for the inclusion of several provisions to improve family engagement in the bill. Thousands of PTA members and advocates called, emailed and tweeted at Senators voicing their support for amendments to improve family engagement in the bill. Because of this impressive grassroots advocacy by PTA members, the Senate adopted an amendment by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Jack Reed (D-RI) that will provide school districts and schools with the capacity to effectively engage families in their children’s education. The inclusion of this program in the Senate bill is a huge victory for children and families. The House bill (H.R. 5) also includes this program.

Furthermore, in large part to the efforts of local PTA members, the bill contains several other laudable family engagement provisions such as the inclusion of parents in the development of school district plans to support student achievement and promote family engagement strategies in early childhood learning programs. Additionally, through the leadership of Chris Coons (D-DE), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Jack Reed (D-RI), language was also included to encourage Title I school districts to invest additional resources in family engagement. In total, 178 amendments were introduced, with 65 accepted and 13 rejected. Several accepted amendments included the creation of a student data privacy commission to inform policymakers on updates to current laws governing this issue, addressing student access to digital learning resources at home, and the establishment of a full-service community schools grant program. Other amendments that were adopted include a proposal from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) allowing certain funds to be spent on mental health awareness programs and one by Sen. Bennet that would require states to limit the total time students spend on tests.

National PTA has long advocated against any proposal that would permit federal dollars to follow a student to another public school or for private school vouchers. The association was pleased that several amendments that attempted to do so were defeated.

Now that both houses of Congress have passed bills to reauthorize the ESEA-NCLB, they must come together to work out the differences between the two bills in conference committees. Once there is agreement, the bill will go back to each chamber of Congress for another vote. The final step is to send the bill to President Obama for his approval. We are excited that this long overdue reauthorization is closer to a reality. National PTA will continue to work to improve educational opportunities and experiences of all children across the United States.

Lindsay Kubatzky is the government affairs coordinator at National PTA.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Wednesday afternoon, the House passed House Bill 2214, which will make needed reforms to academic testing in Washington State. Washington State PTA supports policies that increase academic rigor which results in career and college readiness. We are asking members to take action and send a message to the state senate, urging the passage of HB 2214 today!

This bill comes at a time where transitions are underway and
each graduating class has different graduation requirements. This bill supports many tenants of the Washington State PTA public policy platform including providing a meaningful high school diploma
that includes academic rigor leading to a career and college ready diploma. It makes available pathways to graduation
that provide alternatives to meeting the assessment standards while continuing
to increase students’ ability to acquire the knowledge to be successful in life
after high school. In HB 2214, the legislature
states that: “The purpose of a high school diploma is to declare that a student
is ready for success in post secondary education, gainful employment, and citizenship,
and is equipped with the skills to be a lifelong learner. The Washington State PTA supports the streamlining of high
school assessment requirements and the opportunities for increased local
determination of alternate coursework to meet the requirement in the 12th
grade year in support of future success after high school. We believe that requirements established in
HB 2214 will assist in building and maintaining the integrity of a high quality
assessment system that supports career and college ready learning standards and
the requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

For the second year in a row, legislation mandating schools
in high poverty areas to offer a healthy breakfast to hungry children has
stalled in the legislature. Last year, the bill came very close, but was
unable to make the final hurdle. The same thing happened again this year,
only this time, the House and Governor's budget actually funded the issue in a
line item only to have the Senate version fall short.

Just when you thought the legislative session was going to
close on the equitable funding discussion for McCleary, the House and Senate
came out with Teacher Compensation proposals late last week. The
competing proposals would shift the funding for teacher compensation away from
local taxpayers and over to the state. The resulting shift would have the
state to fully fund basic education and leave levies, as originally intended,
to pay for additional enhancements.

Concerned about the effects of McCleary on our long term
budget outlook and reacting to concerns from the bond market, the State
Treasurer’s office offered a revenue reform package earlier this week. State Treasurer Jim McIntire upped the stakes
in the dueling budget wars by offering a bold, comprehensive state revenue
reform program that would increase the state’s competitiveness, reduce the tax
burden on low and middle income residents, and fully fund basic and higher
education.

Citing the need to take the discussion on resolving the
McCleary Lawsuit to a new level, State School Superintendent Randy Dorn
introduced his plan to fully fund McCleary last week at a press conference in
Olympia. The proposal would extend the phase-in of McCleary to 6 years in
order to leave time to recruit and train enough teachers and support staff to
meet class size reduction requirements. Unlike current plans on the
table, the Dorn Plan funds class size reductions for K-12 and require fully
funding teacher compensation at the state level. His revenue proposal was
rolled out in an additional press conference on Monday morning and is described
below in a separate article.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The U.S. Senate is at work on the
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) also known
as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The new legislation is titled Every
Child Achieves Act. The bill is being marked up in committee this
week. If you are signed up for National PTA Action Alerts, you received
one on Monday. You can access that link here: http://cqrcengage.com/npta2/app/write-a-letter?2&engagem.
For more information from National PTA continue reading below

Sunday, April 12, 2015

With both the Senate and House budgets now seeing the light
of day, there is time to compare and contrast them both. The non-partisan budget
website run by the Legislative Evaluative and Accountability Program and the
Office of Financial Management website compares the House and Senate budget's here. That graphic goes deep
into the weeds and develops a side by side fiscal comparison between the two
proposals. The key differences in the budgets are as follows:

1) How revenue is generated for each proposal

2) Funding Higher Education

3) The approach to teacher and state employee cost of living
increases

4) Level and extent given to funding capital dollars for
school construction.

The Senate Capital Budget Committee heard Substitute Senate
Bill 6080 in committee last week. This was the second time the bill was
heard and the PTA was able to participate in both hearings. The
substitute senate bill made changes based on some recommendations offered by
PTA issue team lead, Eden Mack. The bill creates a separate program allowing
school districts to apply for grants to help fund additional K-3 classrooms due
to the class size reduction requirements of McCleary. The basic
difference between the existing School Capital Assistance Program (SCAP) and the K-3 Grants is here.
The bill in its entirety is found here.

For the second year in a row, legislation mandating schools
in high poverty areas to offer a healthy breakfast to hungry children has
stalled in the legislature. Last year, the bill came very close, but was
unable to make the final hurdle. The same thing happened again this year,
only this time, the House and Governor's budget actually funded the issue in a
line item only to have the Senate version fall short.

One hundred and fifty years ago on April 9th, General Lee
surrendered to General Grant in Appomattox Courthouse signaling the end of the
four year long civil war in the United States and ensuring the preservation of
the union. Although hostilities continued until May, April 9th is
recognized as the end of the Civil War. The victorious Union Army met
again for one of the largest military reviews in Washington, D.C. a few months
later.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

While our Senators (hopefully) were able to sleep in after their
all-nighter, the House was up and about at 8AM for Friday hearings in the
Finance Committee. After a few brief hearings on Senate bills, the Finance
Committee paused for caucus then dived into the main event. The photo
to the right was taken shortly before the start of the hearing which was standing room
only. House
Bill 2211 provides for a licensing structure for vaping products, 60%
surtax on sales of vaping items, and a timeline to develop rules for licensure
by October 1st, 2015.

The hearing had 22 individuals signed up to speak, and testimony was led off
by the two sponsors of the bill, Rep. Gerry Pollet and Rep. Paul Harris.
Pollet stated, "This bill is about youth prevention for the addiction to
nicotine and it is about how we accomplish that which the research… shows that
you cannot do the youth prevention without increasing the price of
e-cigarettes. At the 60% tax, which is paid by the distributor, even the
most expensive product here would be 50% less than smoking
cigarettes.”

Rep. Harris replied “I believe in economics that there is a direct
correlation between the consumption of a product and the cost of a
product.” He went on to share that he “had the opportunity to talk to 60
individuals of the 350 calls we fielded in my office. Many of these
individuals had vaped for longer than one year, but all had the intentions of
quitting. Of those, 25% of those individuals were actually vaping more
nicotine than when they started.”

In addition to Representatives Pollet and Harris, WA State Health Secretary
John Weisman shared his support for the bill. “Vaping rates are
skyrocketing in our high schools with 1 in 5 10th Graders and 1 in 4 12th
graders vaping in the previous 30 days. This is troubling because when
kids vape they inhale nicotine. Nicotine is addictive… and is especially
so with (children’s) developing brains. It took decades of work to change
the social norms regarding smoking. We are now seeing rapid normalization
of vaping among school children. This is not acceptable and the tobacco
companies know it.” Secretary Weisman went on to say that although the
science isn’t complete on the issue, he agreed that for adult smokers, vaping
is a safer alternative to continuing to use smoking tobacco products.

Some of the Republican members of the Finance Committee were concerned that
increasing the costs may lead to the creation of a black market or increases in
non-taxed online sales or purchases from other states. Other committee
members and members of the public followed up on the concerns with the
increased cost and how that may affect adults who are trying to quit smoking.

The challenge for the lawmakers is to develop a
series of rules to keep children away from vaping products while allowing
smokers an avenue to exit the use of cigarettes. The bill is not yet
scheduled to be voted out of committee. The last day for this bill to be voted
out will be Tuesday, April 7th. There are similar bills that have also
been heard in other committees, increasing the likelihood that some changes in
how vaping products are regulated will occur this session.

Monday, April 6, 2015

The House passed their operating budget on a party line vote, but passed a
Capital Budget on a 96-2 bipartisan vote on Thursday. The PTA has
concerns with the capital budget as it does not go far enough to address the
crushing need for classroom space. The operating budget, although a major
step forward, still falls short of one of the marquee goals of McCleary -
reducing the reliance on local taxpayers to foot the bill for basic education.

The House and the Senate will now begin negotiations on how to resolve the
yawning gap between both budgets. The good news is that there is agreement in
expanding funding maintenance, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC), moving to
all day kindergarten, and reducing class size to 17 for all K-3 classrooms. The
bad news is that there is a wide gap between the House and Senate on costs for
Higher Education, revenue addition / reform, and compensation for teachers and
state employees.

House Speaker Pro Tem, Jim Moeller, when asked by the Columbian, seemed
resolved to the legislature going into special session to resolve the
disagreements. The PTA has talked with many legislators and our
perspective is that the sea change that is required by McCleary may take more
time than the 105 day regular session allows. PTA Legislative Director
Sherry Krainick shared this thought with members. "We also
understand that the legislature may go into extra innings, and we accept that
as necessary to resolve the challenges that they have before them.I
caution our PTA members to be supportive and let your legislators know that it
is o'k to stay in Olympia longer so long as we make meaningful progress on
McCleary. This is going to take time."

The Senate ran a marathon hearing on the budget and related bills all day
Thursday, ending their session at 4:17AM. The day started with a debate
on the rules of engagement. The Senate majority passed a requirement that
any amendment would require 60% of the body to pass. The Senate broke for
caucus several times, and engaged later in the day to run through a whopping 74
proposed amendments. Some of the amendments were withdrawn by the sponsor
before introduction or tabled after a ruling, leaving over 50 that were heard
and voted on in a roll call vote of the entire body. Due to the rules change,
very few amendments passed. The speeches were impassioned and the tempers
flared, but, in the end, the Senate made it through all but two of the
proposals.

On a positive note, one of the few proposals that did pass was an education
amendment by Senator Warnick. Her proposal funds a 1 million dollar grant
to OSPI to contract with a non-profit to develop a program to integrate state
learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science with
outdoor field studies and project/work based learning opportunities that align
with environmental, natural resources ,and agricultural professions.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

The Washington State PTA was on hand
in Olympia all day Monday to testify on the Capital and Operating Budgets as
proposed in the State House of Representatives. Unlike the Capital
Budget, the PTA testified with concerns on the operating budget offered by
Representative Ross Hunter. McCleary team lead Eden Mack shared her
concerns with the committee, "We understand that this is one of the
largest investments in K-12 Education in a very long time - but it is still not
enough to meet the McCleary mandate."

Mack was flanked by PTA Legislative
Director Sherry Krainick and PTA members Steve Nesich and Kelly Bowers.
The challenge before the legislature was how to maintain critical funding
for kids outside the classroom while still advocating for significant budget
increases for K-12. The House budget sought to strike this balance, but
did not go far enough to address one of the key components of McCleary - the
continued reliance on local taxpayers to fund portions of basic education that
is supposed to be the dominion of the legislature.

One of the key pieces of the local
funding issue is teacher compensation. Director Krainick testified in
committee on this issue, bringing up the lack of focus on the legislature's own
committee, the Compensation Technical Working Group, which offered
recommendation on teacher compensation and professional learning.
"Our local levies will continue to pay for basics, including teacher
compensation, when they should be used to provide high school students with
access to a 7th period day so they can meet our new graduation
requirements." This issue is part of the PTA platform which was
passed last October at legislative assembly.

The House voted the budget out of
committee late last night and it is likely to be passed out of the House later
in the week. The underlying tax proposals to fund the increases in
education and freezing tuition rates was held in the Finance Committee
Tuesday morning.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

The Washington State PTA led by
Legislative Director Sherry Krainick and Capital Budget leads Susan Baird-Joshi
and Eden Mack came out strongly for increasing the commitment to funding K-12
capital needs. “If we are serious about addressing the needs brought up
in McCleary, we need to show a demonstrated commitment in the State Capital
Budget. There is currently a lack of quality facilities to support
the reduction of class size and expansion to all day kindergarten that is part
of the McCleary solution," said Director Krainick.

Sending in her comments on the
concerns in Lake Washington, Capital Budget lead Susan Baird-Joshi shared her
concerns with just being able to keep up with needs in her district.
"Since 2012, our district has been the fastest-growing school
district in King County. Current enrollment stands at more than 26,000 and it’s
projected to grow close to 30,000 by 2021-22. Existing classroom space will not
accommodate those growing numbers."

The challenges for capital funding
were also shared by Kelly Bowers from Seattle. She testified to the need
for ADA compliant facilities at her daughter’s middle
school. She was joined on the panel by Eden Mack who shared her
frustration with the lack of commitment to funding K-12 capital programs. Also
joining the legislative team in person and through delivered testimony was
Steve Nesich and Bertha Bonds.

The House voted the Capital Budget out of
Committee Tuesday morning and it is expected to pass out of the House by the
end of the week.

Friday, April 3, 2015

The Senate introduced its version of
the budget on Wednesday. Senator Andy Hill headed up the press
conference and was flanked by most members of the Republican Caucus. Both
budgets fully funded MSOC , reduced K-3 class size, and funded all-day
kindergarten, but the amount each budget determined to be necessary to meet
that goal differed. In addition, both budgets were balanced assuming a
partial repeal of I-1351. Senator Hill’s budget has actually offered
legislation to that effect with Senate Bill 6088. Neither budget, however
significantly addressed the issue of local levies funding items that have been
deemed to be part of basic education. However, Senator Hill hinted that
discussions on that issue are occurring.

The key differences between both
budgets include:

House
budget funds a portion of the improvements with new revenue, the Senate,
although allowing some tax preferences to sunset, does not raise new
revenue.

The
House proposal to repeal parts of I-1351 does not have a referendum clause
whereas the Senate version does.

The
House includes teacher compensation and includes funding for health care
benefits whereas the Senate comes in at a lower rate for compensation

The
House funds state employee pay raises based on a percentage that has been
negotiated with the Governor’s office and labor unions. The Senate
version offers an adjustment based on a $2,000 increase for the biennium –
thereby raising low income workers by a higher percentage.

The
House funds the tuition freeze that was voted out of the Senate. The
Senate doubles down by offering to pay for reductions of tuition for four
year institutions by up to 25% by the end of the biennium.

Both
budgets fund Social and Emotional Learning Study, but only the House
addresses Breakfast after the Bell. Senator Litzow has indicated
that there is willingness to work on this issue all the way to the end of
the session.

Both
budgets provide for enhanced early learning and child care, but the House
funds it at a higher rate.

According to McCleary Lead Eden Mack
who was on hand to testify today, “I am grateful for the increase in K-12
spending… (but) it clearly does not go far enough to meet the state’s
obligation to amply fund K-12 education. “ Due to the legislature
not making significant strides in addressing the use of local levies for funding
teacher salaries, there are concerns that the Supreme Court may deliver
sanctions to the Legislature shortly after the close of session. Time
will tell.

The Senate is currently hearing the budget in
committee and will pass it from Ways and Means tonight. It is planned to
be voted off the Senate floor on Thursday. For a side by side comparison
of the House and Senate Education Budget, click here.

Friday, March 27, 2015

The Washington State House of Representatives offered up
their version of the 2015-17 biennial budget today. Representatives Patrick Sullivan, Ross Hunter and Reuven
Carlyle held a press conference at 11:30AM.
As was widely expected, the House Democrats raised the bar on funding
McCleary, but many people believe that even this effort falls short of what
will be necessary to completely fund basic education. Washington State PTA McCleary Issue Team lead Eden Mack
reviewed the budget after the press conference. She shared with us her thoughts on the long
road that we will need to take in order to see the dream of an amply funded
education system become a reality.

"I think that our Legislators need to remember that the
Paramount duty of the state is to amply fund basic education (K-12, not early
learning or higher ed) for ALL children, not just some. The House budget
gets a bit closer to the mark, but it is still not nearly enough. As Superintendent Dorn has said, we need at
least 4.5 billion more to meet McCleary this biennium just for operations, and 1.4 billion is far short of that. With all of the proposed budgets currently on
the table not meeting the mark, the question becomes: what sanctions will the
Supreme Court bring down at the end of session?"The House Budget proposal includes the following:

K-3 Class Size Reduction - $412 million

Textbooks, Supplies, and Operating Costs (MSOC) $741 million

All Day Kindergarten - $180 million

College and Career Readiness - $70 million

Funding for these changes are proposed to come from the
following resources:

5% Capital Gains Tax on investors who receive $25,000 individually or $50,000 as a couple

Raising the B&O Tax on services gross receipts from 1.5% to 1.8% and increasing the exemption for small business from $56,000 to $100,000

Changing the rules on sales tax in border counties from exemption to reimbursement

After reviewing the proposal, Washington State PTA
Legislative Director Sherry Krainick said "I feel this proposal may be the high water mark for McCleary funding." She, along with others, expect a much smaller
revenue package from the Senate. “I think that
unless there are some future attempts to expand revenue to address some of
the shortfalls Eden mentioned, we still fall short. The PTA will be eagerly anticipating the efforts by Senators on fulfilling the promise of McCleary.”

The budget will be heard Monday in committee, then voted on
by the House Appropriations Committee the following day.
It is expected to be passed off the House Floor next week. You can read the budget in its entirety here.

This was an eventful day for the Washington State PTA. Although funding for McCleary was not as high as we would have hoped, we were able to take solace in the fact that two of our top five issues were funded in the House Budget. Representative Ross Hunter's proposal called for funding Social and Emotional Learning and offering grant funding for Breakfast after the Bell. Breakfast team leader Heather Lindberg shared her thoughts on the news that Breakfast programs received funding.

"The inclusion of
Breakfast After the Bell in the House Budget shows that our Representatives
understand that improving educational outcomes starts with providing for
students' basic needs. I am thankful that the House understands the importance
of this research-backed legislation and hope the Senate Leadership allows for a
floor vote in the near future." Both Heather and her daughter Ginny testified on behalf of the legislation earlier this year. Their picture is below.

Last week, we shared
information on House
Bill 1865 which expands student vision exams. The bill passed the House and
was heard in the Senate this week. King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert came
down to testify in support of the bill in Senate Early Learning and K-12
Education. Several years ago, Councilmember Lambert teamed up with
Overlake Hospital's Dr. Mary Baker to urge passage of a similar bill. Although
the Op Ed from the Redmond Reporter was drafted in 2008, it's still a good
piece by a supporter of vision screenings and the work of the WSPTA. Please
click
here to read it in full.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

This week, PTA activist and McCleary
team lead Eden Mack from the Seattle Council PTA joined us in Olympia for the
hearing on Senate
Bill 6080 which starts the conversation on how to fund additional
classrooms in the wake of all day Kindergarten and class size reductions
required by McCleary. In her testimony, she thanked the committee for
starting the process, but, as a parent and leader in the Seattle School
District, highlighted that the proposal did not go far enough to satisfy the growing
need for classroom space in Washington.

Her testimony and the follow up question and
answer session between her, Senator Keiser, and Senator Honeyford is well worth
the five minutes. This is our PTA in action and it's great when members
are able to take the time to let our legislators understand the real world
implications derived from their bills. Testimony on SB
6080 starts at the 1:10 mark and Eden's testimony starts at the 1:39:40
mark. Check
it out!

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The first big movement on McCleary in the
legislature was the release of Governor Inslee's budget last December.
His version fully funded MSOC, and jump started the K-3 class size
reductions and all day Kindergarten for the 2016 school year. Now it is
the House's turn to pitch their version of the budget, which is expected to be
unveiled the week of March 30th, but could come as early as next week.

The PTA is hoping
that the plan may address fully funding teacher compensation and that levies
should pay for extras, not funding portions of basic education. This
will, however, be an expensive ask and we may need to come out fighting for the
changes that our kids need. Expect more information on how you can help at a
later date.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Our PTA Legislative Director, Sherry
Krainick, was in Olympia on Wednesday, and took time out of her meeting
schedule to swing by the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee to
share our support for Senate
Bill 5740 by Senator Joe Fain would expand services for foster children who
age out of foster care at age 18.

The WSPTA went on record last year,
working with the Mockingbird Society to help pass the first round of
legislation concerning this issue. The other major foster care bill, HB
1999, is also supported by the Association. That bill, offered by Rep.
Carlyle, would move coordination of educational programs from DSHS to OSPI and
the Student Achievement Council. It also sets up a demonstration program
to improve foster youth outcomes.

Both bills are moving
forward in the legislative process and have bipartisan support. If you
want to help advocate for these programs - click on the bill links to
"comment" on the bills with your legislators!

Monday, March 23, 2015

One of our Key Top
Five Issues passed yet another hurdle this week when Senate
Bill 5688, the Social and Emotional Learning Bill, was heard in the House
Education Committee. Sarah Butcher, the Legislative Team Lead on SEL, was
present along with Issaquah PTA leader Essie Hicks, pictured above, with her
son who joined her in testifying. Also on hand were the Student
Ambassadors who gave an emotionally charged testimony concerning their own
experiences. It's worth a look, but, bring a hankie. The public
testimony starts here with
the Student Ambassadors at the 1:33.00 mark. They are followed by Sarah then
Essie. Have a look.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Last week, U.S. Department of
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, joined by National PTA President Otha
Thornton and Rayburn Elementary PTA President Norma Cavazos, announced that
more than $30 million in grants will be awarded to help schools prepare healthy
meals for students. Of the grants, $25 million will be provided to help schools
purchase needed equipment to make preparing and serving healthier meals easier
and more efficient, and $5 million will provide additional training for school
food service professionals.

“With more than 31 million students participating daily in the National
School Lunch Program, ensuring children have access to nutritious foods is
critical to help them learn and develop a healthy lifestyle into adulthood,”
said Otha Thornton, president of National PTA. “It
has long been a top priority of National PTA to improve school meal programs as
it makes a difference for the lives and futures of our nation’s children.
National PTA applauds the Administration’s commitment to supporting schools as
they work hard to provide a healthier environment for students.”

Friday, March 20, 2015

As thousands of children head
back to school this month, it is a good time to make sure they are well
prepared for academic success. In addition to equipping them with backpacks, notebooks
and pencils, it is important to ensure that students are ready to learn. Good
vision is fundamental to learning success.

Although most schools do
screen students with the basic Snelling test for 20/20 vision at a distance,
they rarely test for a host of other vision skills such as close vision and
tracking. School screenings typically detect only 5 percent of all vision
problems. However, in the average classroom, 20 to 30 percent of students may
have a vision problem. This issue raises two fundamental questions: What do we
know? What can we do?

With over 2000 bills being offered in Olympia,
it can sometimes be difficult to determine which bills are which. This session,
however, you can follow our legislative exploits in two ways. First, with
our new Bill
Tracker. Second, you can still follow us on Twitter @WSPTALEG. Drop
us a line sometime at legconsultant@wastatepta.org
and let us know what your priorities are as we hit our stride in the 2015
Legislative Session.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

While Washington State holds its
annual legislative assembly in October, National PTA holds its Legislative Conference
in Mid-March. This year, a delegation of WSPTA members attended the three day
event and spoke with congressional leadership about issues concerning the
proposed update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Currently known
as No Child Left Behind) and expanding family engagement.

In addition to lobbying activies, the
delegation took time out to present our own Senator Patty Murray with National
PTA's Congressional Voice for Children Award. Pictured below is incoming
National PTA President and former WSPTA President, Laura Bay; Vice
President Barbara Martin; Legislative Director Sherry Krainick; Senator Patty
Murray; President Heather Gillette; National PTA board member and former WSPTA
President Scott Allen, and Region 6 legislative chair Heidi Bennett.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The legislative session is now
officially half over. Bills which did not pass out of their house of
origin are now likely dead for the remainder of the season. As you know,
once a bill passes from the house that it originates in, it needs to pass the
other legislative body and be signed by the governor in order to become law.

For supporters of financial literacy, the first
hurdle has been cleared with the Thursday afternoon hearing on Senate
Bill 5202. The WSPTA was represented by Acting Region 4 Director
Kristi Shafer who focused on her own experiences to help drive our message
home. If you would like to help us on the legislative team to advocate
for upcoming bills in Olympia, e-mail us at legconsultant@wastatepta.org.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

One of the less often talked about concerns with
fully funding basic education in Washington State is the lack of adequate
facilities in many districts to accommodate the reduced class sizes that the
McCleary Decision and the recently passed I-1351 require. The Washington
State Senate is offering bipartisan legislation to help address the growing
need for facilities and the bill, SB
6080, will be heard in the Ways and Means Committee on March 19th at
3:30PM. McCleary Issue lead Eden Mack is working to get a good
representation of WSPTA members to attend the hearing. If you can join
us, e-mail us at legconsultant@wastatepta.org.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Kids do not learn to read from 20 feet away,
and yet, with the current school requirement of only screening for distant
vision, undetected near vision issues are missed which prevents kids from
excelling in reading and their education.

The bill to provide near vision screenings to
students in schools was voted out of the House and currently sits in the
Senate’s Early Learning/K-12 committee. HB 1865 updates the current school screenings by
requiring near vision screenings in conjunction with distance and color blindness
screenings.

Getting a hearing for HB 1865 in the EL/K-12 committee is the next step
toward moving the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. An email to
committee chair steve.litzow@leg.wa.gov requesting
a hearing as well as contacting committee members requesting their
support would help get Washington kids the vision screenings they need
for the educational success they deserve.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The PTA was thrilled
to have two of our priority bills pass their house of origin well before the
cut-off on Wednesday. House Bill 1295, Breakfast after the Bell, passed the
House with a wide margin last Wednesday and Senate Bill 5688, the Social and
Emotional Learning Bill, passed the Senate with an equally wide margin last Friday afternoon. Both bills have already been referred to Senate and House
Education Committees respectively. We expect hearings on both bills to be heard
next week. Thank you to all for your help and support in moving these bills
forward!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

As we enter the middle of the official
legislative session, the House and Senate are meeting until late in the evening
all this week and through cut-off on Wednesday. Our PTA record for
passing key legislation has been great so far - with our two Top 5 priority
platform issues that had bills attached passing both houses this week. Both Breakfast after the Bell and Social & Emotional Learning had
strong coalitions supporting them and our combined efforts helped put them over
the top for the first round of legislative hearings.

After cut-off, most legislators will be heading
home for the weekend to host town halls. When they return, hearings will
resume on bills heard in the house opposite their origin. In addition,
the House is expected to release their budget near the end of the month and the
Capital Funding / McCleary discussions will burst out into the open. Watch here
for details on how our PTA will be shaping the debate on basic education funding!

Monday, March 9, 2015

At the beginning of the Session, the PTA
called on its members to "Stand Up, Speak Up, and Show Up" on
McCleary. This coming weekend, you will have the ability to do so in the
comfort of your own community. Starting on Thursday evening, legislators from across
the state will be hosting town hall meetings to discuss state issues. We
need to be heard on McCleary and deliver a simple message to our legislators.

Levies are for extras,
not for funding basic education. Teacher compensation is the job of the state,
not the local district. We support your need to stay in Olympia until you fix
this.

Remember when you go to town halls, you are
helping spread the message of the PTA.When you speak, remember, you are not alone,
and we are united in our efforts. Be firm, but be respectful. We
understand the legislators have a tough job ahead of them. We are there
to be strong for them and to help them succeed.

Friday, March 6, 2015

House
Bill 1238 by Representative Pollet is one of many bills that looked at
finding solutions to the rising costs of higher education tuition in Washington
State. Pollet's bill aims to task the Washington Student Achievement
Council (WASC) to develop a roadmap with the ultimate goal of restricting
higher education costs to no more than 10% of the state's median family income.
The study requires WASC to develop a series of potential solutions to the
problem in a report due no later than December 15, 2016. &n bsp;What sets
this bill apart from the others is the comprehensive scope and direction in
developing a plan to control price hikes. The bill passed out of committee and
is currently awaiting action in House Rules.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Yesterday,
the Family Engagement in Education Act of 2015 was introduced in the US House
of Representatives by Congressman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Congressman Mark
Desaulnier (D-CA), and in the Senate by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon
Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chris Coons (D-DE).

These
Congressional champions need our help! Contact your members of Congress
and ask them to cosponsor the Family Engagement in Education Act of 2015. The
evidence is clear—schools need parents to help close the achievement gap, and
we stand ready to help them with this important task. We need Congress to make
sure that family engagement is a cornerstone of the ESEA reauthorization.

Please take a moment to Take
Action, contact your Members of Congress today and ask them to co-sponsor
the bill today!

Whereas other segments of our "Top
5" priorities experienced success this week, supporters of change in how
we allocate and obtain capital funding dollars for schools hit the skids.
Although Senate
Bill 5859 by Senator Jamie Pedersen had been moving forward with
substantial bipartisan support, the bill failed to be voted out of committee on
Friday. This bill would have reduced the threshold requirements for school
districts to qualify for matching funds for projects. Current law discriminates
against larger, high growth districts. This bil l is an attempt to strike
a balance in the name of fairness. The statutory changes offered by the
bill are unlikely to be enacted this session. However, and we stress the
"However" quite strongly here - this does not mean that parts of the
bill will not make their way into the Senate's proposed Capital Budget later
this year. Consider this to be "Schroedinger's Bill" - it is both
alive and dead at the same time.

House
Bill 1941 on the other hand, is truly dead. This bill would have
reduced the bond requirements from 60% voter approval to a simple majority in
general elections. The bill was imperfect - it only offered a change for
November general elections and it split many allies in the education community.
Some representatives saw the proposal as at least a start in the process
to have a bill moving forward while others saw challenges with only allowing
for a November vote. PTA leaders testified on behalf of the bill in
committee while urging amendments to allow for more opportunities to run bond
issues bey ond the originally offered November date. Supporters have
declared they will continue to work this issue during the interim.

Monday, March 2, 2015

This has been a wild week for the
Washington PTA. The Senate versions of Breakfast after the Bell SB
5437 and Social and Emotional Learning SB
5688, have passed out to Senate Rules before the cut-off. Our legislative
champi on in the Senate, Senator Steve Litzow, sponsored both bills and his
efforts on behalf of Washington's kids have been successful thus far.

Over in the House, Representative Zack
Hudgins version of Breakfast after the Bell, HB
1295, has also been moved out of committee and into House Rules.
Sadly, Representative Senn's version of Social and Emotional Learning, HB
1760, was not moved forward in committee.

The next big
challenge will occur this coming week when all bills must be voted off the
Senate floor and over for hearings in the State House of Representatives.
This is a difficult session for new initiatives, even ones that are
proven effective. If you get the chance, e-mail zack.hudgins@leg.wa.gov, tana.senn@leg.wa.gov, and steve.litzow@leg.wa.gov to thank
them for their efforts!

Celebrating service since 1905

Washington State PTA is the largest volunteer association in the state, with more than 132,000 members in 850+ local PTAs.

Our vision? Make every child's potential a reality. We will do that by being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for the well-being and education of every child.